Ecclestone talks U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, and more F1, in exclusive interview

The interview you're about to read took place in the paddock at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium during September, in one of two portable facilities Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has stationed at the track. This one is his office; the other coach houses a personal chef who prepares meals for him and his guests who range from heads of state to super-star athletes, corporate chieftains and starlets. Bernie knows them all and they know Bernie, especially when they want to be seen and photographed (or not seen and sequestered) at one of F1's Grands Prix around the world.

As you read this, know a few things. Bernie likes to have fun; his wit is wry, and while there's truth in jest, his words are specific for the moment. This interview, as we said, was conducted before recent news that the proposed New Jersey Formula One race was wiped from the 2013 calendar. And it happened before the Speed TV network lost its contract to host F1 on U.S. television in favor of NBC, beginning next year. Without saying as much Ecclestone gave clues to this in Berniesque fashion.

We aimed to conduct this as an advance of the Austin, Texas, race, a city about which Bernie speaks fondly. And as you read this know, too, that Bernie sometimes speaks in third person; you will read that in the section about an F1 succession plan. Oh, and Ecclestone whispers. When he talks, people drop what they do to listen, figuratively and literally.

A few observations: Ecclestone is charming and interesting, engaging and funny. So much so, in fact, that were you asked to choose any six people that you'd want to share a dinner with, he'd likely be a first-round pick.

Bernie is an enigma; he is all powerful, like the great Oz, and secretive. He rules with an iron fist—whether to orchestrate success (or failure), or to mandate that transporters have “skirts” to cover their wheels for a “cleaner”-looking paddock. He is a man of habit and humor. He loves to win, which drives him. There is a line from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings that comes to mind when speaking with and about Bernie Ecclestone: Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.

No, indeed, do not get on the wrong side of Mr. E.

Autoweek: I'd love to ask you about the Austin Grand Prix, and the Grand Prix in New Jersey. You seem to have found a secret sauce in terms of having Americans enjoy Formula One. There will be a race in Austin, Texas, and one is proposed for New Jersey. Do we think these will succeed more so than past U.S. F1 venues?

Bernie Ecclestone: I have no idea. I haven't got a clue. The good thing is, I suppose, they built a proper facility in Austin, which is great. So for me that is very nice.

AW: And New York?

BE:It's a nice place. I like New York

AW: Yes, New York is a great place, it has a wonderful skyline. And it has good food and theater.

AW: What are the characteristics of someone such as yourself to run an organization such as this?

BE: I have no idea. I mean lots of people do; lots and lots of them. People who run the same thing I suppose. It's a normal business operation.

AW: You believe Formula One to be a “normal business operation?”

BE: I believe it is (laughing). No, I've been doing it for a long time, so for me it's quite normal.

AW: I see extraordinary preparation. I see enormous attention to detail.

BE: Yeah.

AW: That's the kind of thing you can bring to any organization.

BE: Yeah, I think business succeeds with the right people behind them. You must find those qualities in any business.

AW: What do you think it would take for F1 to succeed in the United States?

BE: I think the real secret is for us to be on greater air television. Will that happen? I doubt it.

AW: Why is that? Because free to air television doesn't want to carry it?

BE: Certainly in Europe and the rest of the world.

AW: I'm not familiar with how the rest of the world works, other than I know SKY TV in the U.K. is fee-based, and I know that I have to live by the eccentricities of ESPN or Speed to see racing or not see it.

BE: Absolutely.

AW: Do you think it would help F1's popularity in the U.S. if there was an American driver?

BE: Years and years ago we had Mario Andretti. It was incredible. We have had other American drivers come and go. Andretti won the championship. So I don't know. We bought time on TV stations [to air the racing]. It's a strange way, I mean open television.

AW: It's amazing that you had to go to those lengths. The fans and excitement and fan engagement is far different these days than it was in the past in the U.S. Do you see F1 racing as competition, entertainment or both?

BE: Billions of people are watching. The competition is fantastic.

AW: Do you see NASCAR as the same? Maybe weighted between competition and entertainment?

BE: It's unfair to ask me that, because it's completely different. NASCAR sort of built the sport on spirits . . . lots of accidents. And the rules are made for something like that.

AW: It's also made to get greater access of the fans to the drivers. The drivers recognize the value of building their own brand by being accessible to the fans.

BE: Sure.

AW: Do you think that would help Formula One in the United States if that were the case?

BE: Well I think the [Formula One] guys are available.

AW: Do you?

BE: Yeah, if people bothered.

AW: If people bothered? Or maybe the access NASCAR drivers give fans is extraordinary. I recently saw folks lining up for hours to get a simple autograph. I don't know if that's available in Formula One.

BE: Well, we have autograph sessions.

AW: Do you?

BE: We had one here [in Belgium] on Thursday

AW: Oh, is that right?

BE: Tony George used to do them in Indianapolis. He made them quite popular.

AW: So, to conduct an autograph session for the fans, is it up to the organizer then?

BE: Yeah.

AW: Do we think the Austin organizers are going to try to engage the drivers?

BE: I'm sure they will try.

AW: Is there anything they need to know to facilitate that? Is there anything special?

BE: No. I think if they asked the guys. I mean we will help if they want to do it, we will help. We'll make sure it happens, that's for sure. I'll make sure it happens if they ask.

AW: What thing can help guarantee Austin to be a success?

BE: It's difficult to say. This is the first race [there], you see. I think enough people know the race is on, so it's not a secret. It's just a case of getting out there and making sure this is what's going to happen, and then keeping it going.

AW: Do you think there has to be fans from the United States or will they all come from South America?

BE: Yeah for sure—fans from all over. But there will be fans from South America. Mexico for sure; a lot of Mexicans I think will come to it.

AW: Your season has been extraordinarily successful thus far, and it looks like the calendar is jammed. How much larger can the Formula One season go?

BE: Well, we're [at 20 races]. And I think there is room for more growth. I am not saying there's not going to be 22.

AW: You are not saying that there is not going to be 22?

BE: Smiles at double negative and says nothing.

AW: I'm sure you've heard this before: You are soon to be a young man of 82 . . .

BE: Hopefully.

AW: Well, hopefully, yes. That's a couple of weeks out. I don't want to ask you when the gold watch ceremony is for your retirement, but when is the gold watch ceremony for your retirement?

BE: I'm thinking it will be the same time as when they put me in the box.

AW: Is there such a thing as a succession plan?

BE: I haven't got one. Maybe our shareholders have a different idea.

AW: Have you given it any thought?

BE: No.

AW: What good is a succession plan after all, right?

BE: It's exactly the same thing as saying to Sinatra, “What's gonna' happen”?

AW: Fair enough. So, which paddock do you want to drop dead in?

BE: I don't know. I think all of these things. A succession plan is, for example, the future and if he goes before me, then he has to have the succession plan. It's a natural sort of reaction, and he does a good job . . .

Anybody that's no good I don't want to work with them. And anybody that's super-good wouldn't want to work with me.

AW: You have that effect on people, generally speaking?

BE: Again with the smile.

AW: What racing series besides your own is a success?

BE: It's obviously NASCAR. That's about it.

AW: That's about it?

BE: I think so.

AW: Because it is entertainment?

BE: Yeah. NASCAR is just different. It's like that.

AW: Do you believe that the Ron Howard movie Rush will help Americans embrace Formula One?

BE: Well, I hope we don't need that, but I hope it does.

AW: The Ayrton Senna movie, I think, opened people's eyes to F1. It absolutely did in the United States; it went beyond die-hard racing fans. Ron Howard has a way of doing those kinds of things, too.

BE: I don't think we should have to rely on Ron Howard's movie. If it helps, good. It would be good [in the U.S.] as it is in most parts of the world, if you can switch on your TV station and just watch a race.

AW: Is there anything you want to tell Americans that they should be aware of before this Grand Prix hits their shores?

BE: I think those who will go to an F1 race, would go to all the races.

AW: Right.

BE: So maybe you want to tell the people . . . bring a friend. Show them what real racing is all about. As I said we put it on TV and people follow the team or a driver. Then we have another big problem in America, and that is obviously the time difference. We've got three time zones. That doesn't help.

AW: Right. It doesn't help us to stay up until midnight to watch qualifying in Japan, or to get up early in the morning to watch a race. I don't mind getting up at 7 to watch it, but that's 4 a.m. on the west coast.

BE: That's the problem.

AW: Thank you for your time and for your insight. My readers will appreciate it as well.

BE: Well, the feeling is mutual. Over the years, we've been to all different parts of America. Every place we've been, we've been successful.

AW: You have, and I remember Phoenix and I remember Las Vegas.

BE: Remember Dallas?

AW: I remember Dallas. Phoenix was warm too.

BE: No, but Dallas was fun and special.

AW: And living in Detroit I remember that when it was an F1 race.

BE: And I suppose Long Beach was something people would probably remember more than any other. But if not, I like Detroit.

AW: I like Long Beach as well. That was a real revitalization of an urban product. To this day Long Beach owes its success as a city to what F1 did for it. I hope that is the case in Austin, but Austin is not the stereotypical Texas; it's a very different and interesting part of the world.

BE: Do you think it is a Formula One part of the world?

AW: Yes, I do. I think Austin is different; it is Texas, but it is not Texas. With the university there, it has a multi-cultural vibe to it—restaurants, food and entertainment. It is avant-garde in that sense. It's the most avant-garde city probably in the American south.

BE: Big events seem to go down good there.

AW: They certainly do; there are plenty of music events there and the University of Texas is there. They like that a lot.

BE: Well, I hope we fit in.

Dutch Mandel
- Dutch Mandel, Autoweek’s editorial director and associate publisher, has been with the company for 29 years. A second-generation car journo, he grew up with exotic cars in the garage. Among his many feats is a chef for a racing team and automotive consultant on the Pixar movie CARS and CARS 2.
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